411 is date, time, purpose of breast cancer benefit

by Anthony Glassman

Cleveland�In contemporary slang, 411 means information, from the telephone dialing code.

Now, on 4/11, from 4-11, people can get the 411 on breast cancer while helping to raise money to fight the scourge during a party at Twist Social Club.

The event will raise money to help Sheila Romes and Tara Beziat�s team for the Three-Day Breast Cancer Walk, a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.

Romes and Beziat, mother and daughter, are the backbone of Sundays at Twist. Romes is their bloody Mary specialist, and Tara hosts Sunday nights.

Romes� sister Laura was diagnosed with breast cancer; doctors gave her six months to live.

Now, 15 years later, they call her �Long-lasting Laura� and the Energizer Bunny, because she just keeps going and going.

The event, organized by three customers who are on Twist�s Rainbow Bowlers team, will feature a 50/50 raffle, silent auction, jello shots and a DJ spinning retro music on old 45s. The tag line for the event is, �Walk back in the past to walk into the future.�

Owner John Katsaros was impressed with the dedication of the customers to the cause.

�They took the initiative,� he noted.

Romes is also touched by the show of support.

�Keith, Michael and Matt are doing a fantastic job of putting it together,� she said.

On the bar�s website, www.twistsocialclub.com, is a letter written by Romes expressing the emotional blow breast cancer can present, and the need to battle back against it.

�Everyone has been touched in some way by breast cancer, and recoiled from the touch,� Romes wrote. �No family should lose a mother prematurely. Or a dear friend, sister, wife, daughter, co-worker.�

She continued, �No one of us, just diagnosed, should have to look at the mirror in the morning and say: Will I survive? Everyone deserves a lifetime: We feel it deep in our bones.�

Of the proceeds from the event, 85 percent will go to the Susan G. Komen walk, and the other 15 percent will benefit the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund, which provides ongoing support to breast cancer initiatives.

Those unable to attend the event on Saturday, April 11 at Twist, 11633 Clifton Blvd. in Cleveland, can go to www.the3day.org. To find Romes and Beziat�s team page, click on �donate,� then select �Search for a team� and enter �Long Lasting Laura.�

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